Three Unwilling Proteges
by Marcie Winters
Summary: A powerful immortal being kidnaps two 13 year old kids to train them. At least, that's what he says he's doing. They and his third "student" have other suspicions. (Rated T for violence. Humanstuck. Erirose, sort of.)
1. Chapter 1

On the floor of a dark room lay two figures, a boy and a girl, bound together with rope. They were both unconscious, but they would awake soon. The man standing beside them knew this. He was of average height, impeccably dressed in a green suit, and completely bald. No expression registered on his face as he turned and left the room, not even bothering to lock the door.

"Nngh." A groggy sound escaped the girl's mouth as she awakens. Her hair was icy blond and her face peppered with freckles, a trait she shared with the boy. He, however, had brown skin and curly red hair. They both spent about ten seconds waking up, blissfully unaware of their circumstances. And then the realization hit.

"Yah!" the boy shouted, nearly knocking both of them over.

"Careful," the girl admonished him.

"W-where are w-we?" He stumbled over his 'w's, the girl noticed.

"Well, by the looks of it, we've been kidnapped," she said, oddly calm.

"But why?"

She shrugged. "Are your parents rich?"

"None a your business!" There was a pause. "...no."

"Oh," she said, looking rather satisfied. "My mother would be an excellent candidate for ransom, but if that doesn't apply to you-"

"Do you think they're gonna kill us?"

"It's possible."

"So we're just going to wait here, then." His voice was accusing. Demanding. Hers was still cool and calm.

"Maybe not. Have you ever seen an action movie?"

The two, whose names they had ascertained between themselves were Rose Lalonde and Eridan Ampora, had gotten themselves standing, untied and out the unlocked door in a matter of five minutes. Right on schedule.

"Hello," said the bald man. If Rose's voice was cool, his was colder than liquid nitrogen.

"If you're going to kill us, get it over with," Eridan said. Rose rolled her eyes. This boy was obviously a stranger to negotiation.

"Why would I want to kill you?" the bald man said. Before either of his hostages could respond, he spoke again-

"Of course, I could be bluffing. You may never know. In fact, you probably won't."  
>Eridan scoffed. "Wouldn't that mean you DON'T plan to kill us? If we were dead, we'd know you were bluffin'."<p>

Rose raised her eyebrows. He was less stupid than she had given him credit for. The bald man, however, knew exactly how intelligent they both were. He was an omniscient being, after all.

"Perhaps I should introduce myself formally," he said. "My name is beyond comprehension by human-or indeed, mortal-intellect. But you may call me Doc Scratch." Eridan snorted. Doc Scratch ignored him.

"And if I am correct, which I always am, you both have taken a certain level of interest in...say...dark magic?"

Rose and Eridan's eyes widened simultaneously. They both tried to conceal the gesture before Scratch noticed. He noticed anyway. He would have liked to chuckle, but it simply didn't fit into the schedule. He moved on.

"First things first, you will not be able to practice in those clothes."

Automatically Eridan's hands went to his ostentatiously long blue scarf. Rose's thoughts traveled to the three obsidian piercings in each of her ears.

"Yes. Those will have to go," Scratch said, as if he had read her mind. Which, of course, is exactly what he had done.

"And w-what if w-we r-refuse?" Eridan's stutter was starting to invade more consonants now. His nervousness was far more evident than Rose's, but she was feeling it too.

Without hestiation, Scratch snapped his fingers. Eridan collapsed suddenly to the ground, screaming in pain.

"What are you-" Rose shouted. Doc Scratch interrupted by snapping again. It was over. Eridan rolled over and retched, coughing.

"Then I will change your mind," Scratch said softly. He pointed to a closet. "Your change of clothes is in there. I will give you ten minutes." He swept out of the room.

Rose bent over Eridan's form on the floor. He was still trembling.

"Does...does it still hurt?"

"NO!" That was a lie. Eridan sat up, blinking tears out of his eyes at the stinging in his throat and chest. This was ridiculous. There was pity in her eyes and he didn't want it.

"I hate him," Rose said bitterly.

"Yeah, well, you're tellin' me," he replied.

They changed into their new clothes in silence. These consisted of a green t-shirt and black pants. Eridan had ditched nearly everything he had been wearing except his glasses, but Rose rebelliously kept her earrings, headband and several pieces of jewelry on.

"What are you doing?" Eridan asked. "If he sees you like this, he'll do to you what-what he did to me."

"I know," Rose said.

"But-"

"Let's just say it's for science."

Eridan shrugged. Not use trying to change her mind. And he always did enjoy a good science experiment.

Rose walked out of the room with a false air of confidence. The door led into a massive corridor, the entire thing gilded and green. Doc Scratch laced his fingers together as they entered.

"So you have decided to test my limits, have you, girl?" He hadn't even looked up.

"Maybe I have. Maybe I'm just stupid. Maybe you'll never know."

"But I do know. That is, dear girl, what omniscience entails."

Rose said nothing. "So I fear I will have to punish you," Scratch continued. "I can't go around picking favorites. It would be terribly unsportsmanlike of me."

He snapped his fingers. As Rose had expected, it hurt. Badly. And yet biting her lip and clenching her fists was enough to stay silent through the ordeal, unlike Eridan, who had been screaming in agony. Of course, it was possible that the shock had caused him to cry out. Or maybe he was just less tolerant to pain that she. But she knew that to assume so would be naive. Doc Scratch had hurt Eridan much more than he hurt Rose. He was picking favorites. And that scared Rose more than any physical pain ever could.


	2. Chapter 2

Doc Scratch was not a complete stranger to the subtle art of kidnapping. He had done it once before, nineteen years ago. An infant child in an orphanage-he hadn't put much thought into her selection. It was he, after all, who would raise her, shape her-mould her into the instrument of absolute terror she would one day become. The other two required more work.

Rose's mother adored her daughter, but she was a hopeless alcoholic. Upon losing her daughter she would be quick to believe Rose had run away or even died. It would tear her apart, of course-but that was none of Scratch's concern.

Eridan's father was not a good man. He had one child already, and as far as he was concerned that was more than enough. He would put very little effort, if any, into the search for his youngest son.

Both of them were extremely intelligent, somewhat introverted, and had a vendetta against humanity. They were also thirteen-year-old children who could perform black magic. It was a rare combination and Doc Scratch prided himself upon having found it.

Having been led into another, larger room by Scratch, Rose began taking off her jewelry and headband. No use in keeping them on now. Eridan kept staring at her. She elected to ignore him for now. If he was as smart as she hoped he was, he would've come to the same conclusion she had.

Doc Scratch watched them both from the corner, counting down in his head. Three...two…

"There you are!" One. "Don't think I'm done with you. I won't let you go through with-" Rose and Eridan froze, staring at Doc Scratch's first kidnappee. She gasped sharply. "What have you done?" she breathed. Her face contorting into rage, the stranger turned and fled the room.

"Who was that?" Eridan asked suspiciously.

"A student of mine. I apologize for the lack of a proper introduction," Scratch said. "I can assure you you will have plenty of time to become acquainted later."

Rose didn't like the sound of that.

"Meanwhile, it's time to begin your training. First, a pretest of sorts." He snapped his fingers. Eridan winced, but no pain came. Instead three men in green suits came lumbering in.

"These are my…" for the first time an expression showed on Scratch's face: one of distaste. "...my associates," he decided. "I'd like you to kill them."

"Kill them?" Rose raised her eyebrows.

Doc Scratch waved his hand dismissively. "They'll come back."

"Perfect," Eridan said. Rose glanced at him. Bloodlust...it wasn't what she had expected, but looking at him now she wondered why she hadn't seen it sooner.

"And what if they kill us? I don't have my wands," Rose said. "I assume he doesn't either."

"They won't kill you. Even if I was unsure on the subject-which I am not-I would be severely disappointed in you if these imbeciles managed to bring about your undoing."

"Thanks for the reassurance," Eridan sneered. His hands were curled into fists. "Can we go now?"

Scratch gestured to his minions. Two of them immediately charged at Rose. Terrified, she began running until she reached a small corridor. Lying on the ground was a silver dagger. Rose picked it up gingerly and spun around. One of the men had caught up to her. He punched her swiftly in the face. Rose cried out in pain as blood spurted out from her lower lip.

"All right, you asked for it," she growled. She brandished the dagger in what she hoped was a threatening manner as she looked to the side. Somehow, Eridan had managed to wrap both his legs around the fatter man's neck. He, too, was holding a dagger, which he was stabbing viciously into the back of the man's knees. He must've taken gymnastics, Rose decided.

She took a leaf from Eridan's book, pulling a similar but less flexible maneuver and jumping on the thug's back. She let out a battle cry and sunk her knife into his stomach. Both hers and Eridan's opponents sunk to the ground dead at the same time.

The final attacker was large, but stupid looking. Rose decided she could take him. It seemed Eridan had the same thought, because they both jumped him at the same time. Rose accidentally kicked Eridan in the nose.

"What are you doing? Back off!" he snapped.

"I had him first," Rose said, giving in to catty arguing in spite of herself.

"No way, I had mine killed before you even-"

The thug, who had been standing there confused through the entire argument, had grown tired of the two teenagers hanging around his neck. With a grunt, he threw them both off and pulled out a knife of his own.

"See w-what you've done?"

"What I've done?" Rose swatted the man's incoming arm away with her dagger.

"You're so obstinate," Eridan grumbled, jumping onto his back again. The man stumbled backwards giving Eridan an easy target. The only problem was that this one was so large that he couldn't reach around to stab his stomach.

"Finish him-" Eridan grunted. Rose didn't need further prompting. She rushed forward and plunged the knife into the man's heart.

He fell to the ground in a bloody heap. Rose cringed a little as she removed her weapon from his chest.

"Did we just…"

"Work together to vanquish a common foe?" Rose finished, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Wow, I can practically feel the romance blossoming," Eridan snarled. He walked coldly out of the room, leaving Rose to stare blankly at the three dead bodies on the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: there are a number of things you might want to watch out for in this chapter-alcoholism, abuse and mention of suicide among them. If that bothers you a lot, please skip this chapter. Thanks!)

**(AUTHOR'S NOTE AGAIN: sorry about the unannounced hiatus. I lost a large portion of the chapter that I had already written and that took a huge bite out of my motivation. Fortunately I'm pumped up again and the next chapter will be out much sooner.)**

Ms. Roxanne Lalonde was a complete and total wreck. Upon the loss of her youngest daughter, she had torn herself apart. What if it was her fault? She hadn't ever been there. She was always drinking-and now, much as she hated herself for it, she was drinking again. It numbed the pain. Or at least, it was supposed to. Alcohol wasn't working so well this time.

Her two sons, who lived in Texas with her ex-husband, had come to stay while authorities searched for Rose. The social worker thought it would be good for her. She hadn't said anything about it being good for _them_. The two of them and her older daughter, Roxy, were downstairs, trying to figure out how to cook dinner.

"You can't even cook pasta?" Dirk demanded. Roxy shrugged. "Mom usually makes dinner, or if she's too drunk we have sandwiches."

"I can make ramen," Dave offered. Dirk pressed his hand to his forehead.

"Bro still feeding you a healthy diet, then?"

"Yeah, a healthy diet of GETTING BEAT UP," Roxy said. "Oh, burn!"

Dave gave her a withering stare and looked back at the spaghetti package. "Do I actually need, like, five quarts? That's more than a gallon of water."

Dirk sighed in defeat. "I'll google it," he said.

* * *

><p>Cronus Ampora had liked having a little brother. He was a nerd, sure, but he never made fun of you for getting rejected. Okay, he did, but he did it with love. Probably. He had been missing for two days now, and still nothing had happened. One call to the police. The newspaper had written an article about it (which he hadn't read, because they didn't get the newspaper). After that? Nothing. He got the impression that his father was avoiding the situation-but then, that was ridiculous. Was it?<p>

"Dad?"

"Eh, kid?"

"Don't you think we oughta-I don't know-call the police again?"

"Why?"

"You know. Eridan."

"I'm doin' the best I can," he said. "You suggestin' I ain't?"

"No, don't get the wrong idea-" Cronus' father turned around and stared his son in the eyes. Cronus' heart sank. He was drunk.

"Never mind. It doesn't-it doesn't matter-" Cronus stammered in a desperate attempt to calm the situation.

"No, now I'm interested. What d'you have to say?"

Cronus should have known saying more was volatile. But the words-like so many things he said-came out without his permission. "I just think maybe we might find him sooner if we...put in a little more effort, ya know?"

Dr. Ampora stood up, fists clenched. "Are you sassing me, boy?"

Cronus stepped backward shakily. "No, I-"

"Ha! At least Danny had backbone. You're just-" he reached out and grabbed Cronus' shirt-"a"-lifted his fist-"girly little-" before he could escape his grip, his father punched him in the face. Howling, Cronus rushed off, hand clapped over his rapidly swelling eyeball.

"You're not my son, kid! Get out!"

* * *

><p>Roxy collapsed face first on her bed. She was oddly exhausted from acting cheerful. That was what the Lalondes-and the Striders-did, wasn't it? Acted like one thing in public, saving emotions for when they were alone-for the sake of everybody else. She wondered what it would be like to just say what was on her mind sometimes. But Mom needed nothing <em>less <em>than a bunch of depressed children on her hands.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Roxy said, peeling herself off the matress. It was Dave.

"Can I-"

"'Course," Roxy said. Dave walked in and leaned against her bed. He didn't say anything, just pulled out his phone and started texting someone.

"Do you miss her? Rose, I mean?"

Dave took a long time to reply. "Yeah," he finally said. His voice cracked a little. Roxy pretended not to notice.

"She's coming back," Roxy said. "I swear, I know she is."

"Sure, I guess," Dave paused. "But what happens to us when-no, if-she doesn't?"

Roxy lowered her head between her knees. "I don't know, man. I really don't."

* * *

><p>Cronus slammed and locked his door. As quickly as he could with the hand that wasn't covering his eye, he pulled on his favorite leather jacket and tossed as much money and clothes as he could fit into a duffel bag. He threw open the window, letting the cool night air rush in. He climbed out the window and threw the duffel bag in his car. He took a moment to admire the shiny black Ford. She was a beauty, a real antique-he was almost so caught up in the moment he didn't realize it was pouring rain. He had to get out of here.<p>

* * *

><p>"Jane?"<p>

"Dirk! How are you? How's your mom?"

"Not great. I'm pretty sure my entire family is off crying somewhere."  
>"Aw, that's awful."<p>

"Meh, I guess."

"Um…" Jane trailed off. "You know it's always lovely to get a call from you, Mr. Strider, but we both know you never call for no reason."

"Yeah, about that."

"Yes?"

"Did you see that article? The one about Rose and that other kid from her school?"

"You mean...the one saying they...committed-"

"Suicide."

Jane sighed quietly. "Yes, I read it. Why?"

"Do you think Rose really could've done it?"

"I wouldn't be able to say! Maybe you-okay, there's really no tactful way to go about saying this, is there…"

"Then just say it."

"Fine! Dirk, you're the one who's been suicidal. Do _you _believe Rose would kill herself?"

Dirk swallowed harshly. "Yes. Knowing Rose, she might, and I guess that's the problem."

The phone went dead silent for a few seconds.

"Then we'll hope for the best," Jane said firmly. "That's all we can do."

Dirk squeezed his eyes shut, his right hand clenched into a fist. Thoughts raced through his head-thing like _easy for you to say. _Your _brother isn't dead. _All he said, though, was "Thanks for the advice."

"Anytime for a friend."

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>It was three in the morning when Cronus finally arrived at the Peixes estate's front door. This would have been surprising, seeing as they lived only a few miles away, but it had taken him almost 45 minutes to get through security. Man, they were strict. If Cronus thought the gates and bodyguard were bad, though, he was sure he had another thing coming when he confronted Meenah.<p>

Soaking wet from the now pouring rain, Cronus rapped sharply twice on the hot pink door. He considered ringing the doorbell, but he vaguely remembered Meenah saying something about that sound annoying her. _Wow, I am such a nice guy, _Cronus thought.

From behind the door came the sound of a lock being undone. And then another. And then about another thousand. How paranoid were these people? A bunch of crazies, they were. Rich, attractive-but crazy.

"What the shell are you doing here, Cronus?" Meenah snapped. _Oh, yeah. The fish puns. _The Peixes family had a weird thing about fish for some reason. He didn't know why. Better not to bring it up now, anyway.

Cronus explained what had happened. He felt a small burst of satisfaction when Meenah winced at his black eye. She knew as well as anyone how terrifying Dr. Ampora could be, especially when he was drunk.

"So I need a place to crash for the next, uh, coupla days," Cronus finished, making a futile attempt to enter the shelter of her house. Meenah blocked his way.

"Nuh uh," she said. "A couple of DAYS?"

"Come ON, Meenah, you won't even..._sea_ me there!" He winked. _Subtle, Cronus. Subtle._

Meenah wasn't impressed. In fact, she just looked confused.

"Y'know, sea? S-E-A. Like, the ocean-it's a fish pun."

His friend groaned. "Even if that wasn't horrible-"

"Hey!"

"Fish puns are mine and Feferi's thing. I guess Danny could do it too, bless his heart."

"He isn't dead," Cronus complained.

"Yeah, whatever," Meenah said. "But, since you asked _so nicely_, fine. You can stay for a few days."

"Really? Um, I mean-"

Meenah chuckled. "Just be glad Mom's on a business trip."


	4. Announcement

Hi everyone! I am so so grateful to anyone who read or even followed this story or me. I honestly appreciate it a ton. Sadly, I don't really have motivation (or time) to work on it right now. So I'm putting it on a small hiatus for about a month or two before I start writing again. **Important: I am not giving up on this story. I do plan to finish it.** I just don't want to keep anyone waiting when I currently haven't even started the next chapter. So I will be posting a couple of shorter little drabbles (cod how I hate that word) until then. Thank you all again! 


End file.
